The present invention relates generally to safety apparatus for use in climbing structures and, more particularly, includes a support device for stabilizing a ladder against the structure.
Ladders are frequently used to scale structures such as buildings. A susceptability to slippage of such ladders subjects users thereof to the risk of injury. The slippage can be occasioned by wind, a sudden unbalancing, a loose structural member, or any of a number of other causes.
Solutions to this problem have been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,374,060 (Chute) which discloses a ladder clamp which clamps over the vertical side beam of a ladder and over the edge of a gutter; U.S. Pat. No. 1,433,236 (J. Schoor and W. Thmaskoff) which discloses an attachment comprising a clamp secured around a vertical side beam of a ladder and further comprising a pointed end which "spikes" a building surface to prevent sideways slippage; U.S. Pat. No. 2,327,317 (F. O. Rondell) which discloses an attachment for a ladder for working around windows or a cornice; U.S. Pat. No. 1,994,369, (R. H. Risser) which discloses a brace for a round structure; U.S. Pat. No. 4,143,743 (Larson) which discloses an apparatus for removably clamping a ladder to the eaves of a building; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,164,269 (Jackson) which discloses a safety bracket for a ladder which has two extending arm members interconnecting in a crossing relation one end of each is secured to a roof and the other end formed out to a hook-shaped portion which may be hooked around an upright member of a ladder. None of these prior devices provides a climbing apparatus which is both completely stabile and easily mounted on any of a variety of building structures.